Group Project

I'm in the process of figuring out what I should be writing for our 4-page essay. It's a game of trial and error and right now I don't feel I have the necessary information to write yet. I could write about our process up to this point as subject for the first half of the paper, then write the experiences we encountered with the clothing drive for the second half. That part would have to wait until after the event, but I feel if I got half of the paper done now, I wouldn't have to feel like I'm rushing to get an entire paper done. Other than the paper, everything is going great and according to schedule. I don't know what to expect for the turnout for this event, but I am hoping that people do show up for this not only for the sake of our assignment but because they'd be doing a great thing and they'd help address a major issue in our community as well as everywhere else in the world: Poverty.

A Bad Apple

This blog is a continuation of the previous one:

Throughout the doorway project, I wouldn't say the group had a bad apple amongst it. We all put extra effort in and made sacrifices to make ends meet. So I suppose during the assignment, yeah, we never really had bad experiences. It presented itself in a fun and challenging way that made it almost impossible for any of us to BE the bad apple. However, towards the end of the project and especially during the teacher review, One of the group members, who I feel put the most effort into creating our doorway, started to show signs of resentment. Our review went well but not as well was we hoped. The day that we presented our doorway, one of the mechanisms we created broke. Frustrated but out of time, we gave it our best shot and went on with the presentation anyway. I could tell the specific group member wasn't happy with the results and it appeared evident through his part of the presentation. Unsatisfied with the outcome, he blamed it on the restrictions of the materials and inadvertently blamed the teachers for assigning such materials to work with. True, the materials we had did present themselves as limited in function, but I felt this assignment stood as an obstacle that we all had to tackle. At the end of the class, he didn't even wait to be excused and left. Later on, our teacher pulled my group aside to discuss it, and even then he still felt bitter.

I guess that explains my bad apple experience. It never really deterred the group though and I felt satisfied with the experience.

A Design Student's Attempt at Making a Doorway

I remember my first group project. I had come here to become a design student and the first class that I took had me grouped up with two other design students. Our goal: Create a door using limited materials. Materials: Sixty feet total of lumber, 150 feet total of twine or burlap. We had 3 weeks to make all of these materials go together and create a doorway. Our professor wanted us to do more than just "create" a doorway. He wanted us to create a passage. He wanted us to really breakdown what a doorway meant and really create an experience with our doorway. With many countless hours of trial and error, we succeeded. I will say that the doorway assignment really pitted against the clock and we all came together successfully to create what I would say was a great doorway.

Response to Annie Dillard's "Fecundity"

I remember watching the Food Network one day and the show "Good Eats" came on the air. Alton Brown plays the host and within a half-hour segment gives his interpretation of--well-- "good eats." He brings on the entertainment through use of scientific knowledge and a sense of DIY accessibility. The food he makes looks delicious as well. But that wasn't the reason why I felt so intrigued by the show. I remember watching one episode where Alton said that he never used cooking utensils that served less than two functions and then he'd somehow create his own gadgets that he would use for multiple purposes. He then went on to make a carbonated smoothie using a a fire extinguisher and an empty water gallon jug.

I look at Alton Brown's transformation of simple objects into complex cooking multi-taskers, and think, "Shouldn't it always be that way?"

I liken Alton Brown's transformations of simple everyday tools/objects/what-have-yous to that of Annie Dillard's breaking down of small everyday objects that everyone seems to take for granted or hardly notice at all. I decided with this I would go the unconventional approach and describe what someone else would do with an object. He did say in an interview that he thinks cooking tools found in an appliance store are just overpriced hardware supplies. I thought that statement so true that I felt that Alton Brown was exactly the kind of person to really appreciate the little things in life and go the less unconventional route for more or less the same goal.

Response to Wendell Berry's "Manifesto" and "The Making of a Marginal Farm"

What is his intent with each piece?

With Wendell Berry's piece "Manifesto," He more or less conveys a message to the audience to appreciate the simple things in life and remember their own origin point. He knows that the audience will get side-tracked and make a few mistakes, but insists that they keep moving forward. I liken this back to the basics approach to that of Thoreau and even Chris McCandless. McCandless in general wanted a simplistic back to the basics lifestyle and didn't want anyone to impede on that.

With Berry's second piece, "The Makings of a Marginal Farm," it describes Berry's life as a more rooted one. He started off as a wondering ambitious explorer if you will, and became rooted to a place he had once visited as a child. I use the word "rooted" as sort of a pun because, as an adult with a family, one generally gets tied down and therefore becomes grounded. Berry also described this instance in his life where he felt destined to stay at that spot and that it replaced his lofty goals of adventure. His love of the hard work and follies that he endured while building this farm envelopes the reader. I feel like Berry's love of his farm became engraved into his writing. His ultimate message I think went along the lines of hard work will prosper. But I also feel that both of Berry's work coincide with each other and give the same message of going back to the basics and living a simplistic lifestyle full of wonder, missteps, and dedication.

Response: Sociology and Social Change

As I read through the essay, I felt a sense of deja vu. I had read something similar to this in my sociology and psychology classes while attending Kirkwood that some of this felt like knowledge I had once attained but forgotten. Through this reading It made me remember many of the things I had discussed in those classes such as social problems stemming from structural foundation. I had also noticed towards the middle of the essay that it directed itself towards me and my fellow college peers through use of clubs and social actions for the betterment of our environment. This method played on the Pathos, our emotions by trying to involve us in something to promote social change. I noticed also that a lot of the college level social problems and solutions reflected a lot of what I learned about through my advertising classes. I remember my advertising 301 class last semester had the class break off into teams and they had to try and create a product to sell to the rest of the class that would benefit the college. That semester has a theme that followed figuring out issues within the college and coming up with an idea to solve them. Rising prices in textbooks would be the issue, then we had to figure out a way to combat that issue. That part right there I was the most compelling part of the article seeing as I am a college student, and these things do affect me.

Reading Like a Writer: John Muir's A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf

What are the major themes in this piece? Are there any minor themes as well? Is there any kind of “subtext” in this essay? What kind of murmurs run below the surface?

John Muir’s theme throughout the essay and throughout many of his other essays convey more or less a meaning of one’s own existence and link to God. From a young age he was subjected forcibly to recite the Bible it appears evident throughout his writing. The essay does seem to be more or less a rambling journal entry from Muir. I felt his audience was towards himself, but nonetheless even towards himself, he brought up the point of our existence. Personally I didn’t quite enjoy this piece as much as others because it didn’t have something one would experience from an essay.